CFSI's 'Pappu Ki Pugdandi' chosen for Toronto fest

"Pappu Ki Pugdandi", the latest movie produced by Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) will be the official Indian entry at the Toronto International Film Festival Kids 2015 from April 7 to 19, a top official said here Monday.

The 90-minute movie has been directed by Seemaa Desai and tells the story of Pappu, hailing from a lower middle-class family who faces adjustment issues in his new school and his interactions with a genie hoping to solve all his problems.

The message conveyed by the movie is there are no shortcuts to happiness and one must learn to identify his or her strengths.

"We have been making films for the Indian market since inception in 1955 and this would be a collective effort to reach the international markets, make much better cinema which would entertain and educate," CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar told IANS.

In the past sixty years, CFSI has produced, exhibited and distributed more than 260 children's movies, short films, animations, television programmes and documentaries, he added.

In 2013, a CFSI animated movie "Goopi Gawaiiya Bagha Bajaiiya" was premiered at TIFF Kids, reinforcing its commitment to create value-based entertainment not for children in India and around the world, according to Kumar.

TIFF Kids is one of the biggest children's film festivals in the world offering a diverse slate of programming from Canada and others parts of the world, fostering new ideas about complex issues confronting today's youth.

Incidentally, "Gattu" was the first CFSI movie released commercially in 2012 with a mega-buzz created through marketing and promotions, Kumar said.

"Unlike China, Netherlands and Denmark, India does not have a thriving children's cinema culture, but CFSI with all its expertise in children cinema, released 'Gattu' and learnt from the experience to evolve an appropriate marketing, distribution strategy for children's films. We are now approached by mainstream filmmakers to help distribute their children's movies," Kumar explained.

"Gattu" won a Special Mention by International Jury at Generation Berlinale 2012 and CFSI's films "Goopi Gawaiiya Bagha Bajaiiya" had won national and international acclaim for its unique Indian-style animation.

Another CFSI production, "Kaphal-The Wild Berries", directed by Batul Mukhtiar won the National Film Award for best children film in 2013.